


Eight Days to Die

by Starlancer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Depressed Lance (Voltron), F/M, Fluff, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 02:38:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16945395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlancer/pseuds/Starlancer
Summary: Lance is depressed, our poor baby. Katie wants to help desperately, but she only has eight days.———————“Let me show you eight days full of reasons to stay alive. Starting two hours ago. And if you aren’t convinced by the end of the eighth day.. you can leave..”





	Eight Days to Die

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very sensitive story. If this sort of stuff bothers you, please don’t read this. Getting you uncomfortable or upset is not what I want to do. <3

Currently, it is eight thirty in the morning in early December, and it definitely isn’t off to a great start. Last night Katie Holt hosted a sleepover for her friends, and everyone seemed to have had a great time. Lance had announced that he was leaving at eight in the morning. But Katie realized he had lied as she entered the bathroom in the morning. Lance had forgotten to lock the door. Why would anyone else be up early on a Saturday? None of his friends had to work, and he knew it. But at this point it didn’t matter. It was too late to kick her out and lock the door.

Katie Holt was in tears. She had caught her best friend about to swallow a handful of pain killers. Now Lance McClain.. he wasn’t addicted to these. Honestly, he hated taking medicine in general. He just figured that it was the least painful way to go. He had almost gone through with it, actually. All thanks to a pointless debate in his mind. But of course, he couldn’t do it while Katie was staring at him. Her broken heart was apparent in her eyes. He couldn’t tell if it was because of his lie or because he had plans to die. “Don’t tell anyone” was the only thing he managed to get out, and it sounded just as desperate as he felt. Just the fact of Katie knowing angered him.

He had not shown his friends any signs of his depression. Well.. he had said something to Keith once that hinted at it, but Keith obviously thought it was a joke. Lance’s mask was made of them, so of course he thought it was. It was the point of the mask; to remain unseen. Which is why he was so upset and angry now as he looked into Katie’s eyes. How dare she walk in on him when he was about to fulfill his devious plan? How dare he let his guard down? He had no regret of what he was going to do, and he was going to do it no matter what. “T-Turn away. I don’t want you to watch me.”

The girl seemed to be speechless for a few moments. Stuck in her place as she cried, she continued to stare at him. “No! Are you crazy!? You ca-“

”Shut up! You’ll wake the others. It’s bad enough you’re awake to see this.. you’re making it harder.” Lance slowly looked at the handful of pills. He was so damn close, he could taste it. This moment would be easier if he were dead for it. Katie’s hurt reactions just made Lance feel more guilty, and honestly, it only motivated him further. Her unintentional guilt tripping had Lance shoving the pills into his mouth almost hastily. He was stopped by Katie’s shriek of terror as she tackled him, forcing the pain killers out of his hand and mouth, onto the floor.

Lance was now on the bathroom floor with a crying Katie on top of him. Well, she was more yelling at him, but her sobbing had made her quite incoherent. The small white pills were littered across the floor, and the container was still being held tightly by a depressed Cuban boy. The said boy was staring up at ceiling in a defeated manner. He had no idea of what to do.

All this commotion had woken the other guests. Lance was only aware of this once he saw them by the door, obviously confused. It was first to click with Shiro, actually. The others couldn’t believe it. Shiro’s first priority was to care for his friends. “Pidge, take a deep breath and calm down. Get off of him as well. Yelling and crushing him will do no good.” Takashi Shirogane has tried to reason lightly with the girl. She didn’t listen obviously, and Allura had to drag her out of the room to calm her down. “Lance, are you alright?”

The only answer was silence, with the accompany of Lance sitting up. What was he supposed to say? The obvious hidden depression? That much could go unsaid. Next think he knew, he was being hugged by the three males who remained in the room. Hunk had no idea on how to comprehend this, and Keith was speechless. “I guess I’m a good liar.. huh?”

Lance was trying to make jokes. Keith definitely wasn’t having it. How dare Lance try to make light of a situation like this? “Shut the fuck up.” The raven haired male sounded as if he were growling. Like an agitated dog. It got Lance to be quiet, but the boy still felt uneasy and restless.

A moment later, Allura joined the group hug. Still no Katie. With this, Lance burst into tears. He was so close to having his internal pain end, but of course he had tried when he was at a sleepover. He felt so foolish. Perhaps it was the lack of siblings and family? They were always all around the house and he never had much privacy. If he were to do it with pills at his own house as he planned, there was a high chance he would’ve dropped dead in front of the younger ones. He definitely didn’t want that.

”It’s okay Lance. I hope you’re hungry. The other Holt’s have awoken due to Pidge’s screams, and are making a big breakfast. Don’t worry, they don’t know about the situation.” Allura was talking softly. Like Lance was a child. Everyone that was hugging him before had stopped and were now picking up pills and dropping them into the toilet. Of course they were. Who would give pills back to someone who was going to commit suicide with them?

Everyone was silent after this. They all sat in different areas of the bathroom; Allura left the room, obvious tears were forming in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry in front of the others; she feared it’d make the situation worse. So instead, she had her sights on calming Katie down. Hunk had moved to sit against the wall by the toilet after he had flushed the small tablets down the bowl of porcelain. The male couldn’t bring himself to look up at the two; he feared that he’d start to cry. Crying wasn’t something he wanted to do. He didn’t feel like he had the right to cry in this situation. Keith had placed himself by the door. His expression seemed very stoic, but the sadness and worry was written in his eyes. All he could do was watch Shiro try to calm Lance down. What else was he supposed to do? But looking at Shiro, it seemed that the eldest was taking it the hardest. Well.. Katie was taking it the hardest, but Shiro was a pretty close second. Takashi Shirogane was strangely calm for this situation, so there most likely was an inevitable storm in him. Speaking of Shiro, he stayed next to Lance, holding him softly as his hand gently ran along the Cuban boys’ arm. The eldest male always had been the father figure in the group, and this setting was just another example of that. Takashi was ignoring the questions his mind thought up. He instead had his priorities set on Lance. What kind of father figure or friend doesn’t see through a mask like Lance’s? It should’ve been more obvious to him.

“Breakfast~” was the only thing that broke the silence. It was Katie’s mother, obviously. She had a sing-song voice in the mornings, due to her being so chipper. In a family full of night owls, being the only early bird set her with a personal task; to lighten the morning mood. Today it would be a little different though. This somber mood would be very difficult to lift. Perhaps Lance would try to joke around a bit as well? But the way Keith reacted to his joke earlier.. well, it just made joking around seem like a bad idea. Lance’s thoughts were disrupted due to Shiro helping Lance up and guiding him to the dining table. “Good morning everyone! Oh my, rough night? That’s okay. I made some waffles! Enough to lighten anyone’s spirits!”

Oh god, this woman was too nice and lovely to know what he had almost done. He almost ruined her morning. How rude of him. This made him feel even worse. All of his guilty feelings were definitely not residing any time soon. Maybe this was just karma. He did something that in turn would be payed for with Lance’s own suffering. The two waffles that were drowning in maple syrup on his plate were being cut into bits by Lance himself. He stared at his food only as he ate them. He couldn’t bring himself to looks his friends in the eyes. They probably hated him now, which was understandable in his viewpoint. He betrayed them. Friendships were based on trust, and it was apparent that his friends didn’t quite trust him.

”Thank you for having me, Mrs. Holt. I’m afraid I need to get home to help my Mamá around the house. Little ones can be messy.” Lance found himself saying these words. More lies. His mother had dropped the kids off earlier in the morning at a daycare so she could go Christmas shopping with his father. No one else knew this.. except Katie. Katie knew that his mother went out every Saturday. So when a viscous “I’ll walk you” was heard, Lance knew it was her.

“That’s sweet of you Katie. I’ll see you soon, Lance, dear. Say hello to you mother for me!” The woman exclaimed with a cheery disposition. She was still preparing more waffles as Lance and Katie got up from the table. Hushed chatter immediately sprung up at the table when Lance was out of earshot. They still needed to keep it quiet so the other Holts’ wouldn’t hear it, but they were definitely trying to piece things together.

Lance was picking his stuff up. He didn’t even dare try to reason with Katie. Leaving his pajamas on, the two silently left the house. Their walk stayed silent for the most part. The two friends looked at their surroundings. The snow this morning didn’t look as beautiful as it usually did.

It definitely was a winter wonderland; ice and snow rested on the street and buildings. People were walking on the sidewalk in their winter attire. In the snow, there were footprints of people and animals alike. Plus, Christmas decorations were strung up on houses as if the town was a ceramic mantle piece. It would generally be a breathtaking view, and it was. To everyone except Lance and Katie.

They walked silently together in this wonderland, with things still seeming pretty tense. But soon enough, Lance was walking through his front yard. His house was decorated in festive LED lights. The only other decorative things were the snowmen that the McClain siblings made together, almost a week ago. The inside of the house was much more fun though. As the pair walked inside, a homey setting surrounded them. Silver and red garland was strung around the stairwells’ banister and the television stand. Their stockings were placed on the walls due to lack of a fire place, but they never minded. They still upped the festive aura. Their Christmas tree was in the corner of their living room. It was decorated beautifully with gold, red, blue and green decorations. The Christmas lights on it were colorful, to match the ones outside. All of them were off though. There was no reason to turn them on if no one was home. They would’ve stayed off too, if it wasn’t for Katie. She took it upon herself to light the decorations for the McClains. It was obvious that Lance wasn’t going to do it.

”Why do you want to leave?” The auburn haired girl asked. Her voice seemed petite and almost wasn’t there. But to Lance, the question was louder than ever. He set the bag onto the floor as he sat on the old black sofa. It was too much to explain. Years of conflict. Years of guilt. Not enough time or mental capacity remained for Lance to be able to explain himself.

”I.. can’t.” Lance whispered in reply. He was staring down at his gray sneakers as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. They say some people need to cry it out. But that’s not how life worked for Lance. If he cried, so what? He knew it didn’t fix anything. There was almost no point anymore. “I’m home now. You don’t have to stay.” This comment of his seemed a bit rude, but with the way he said it, he was more defeated and desperate than anything. Pidge wasn’t going to leave Lance here alone though.

“I want to stay here with you. Can we hang out? Watch a movie? I grabbed The Secret Garden on our way out. I know it’s your favorite.” It was his favorite movie. He didn’t know why. He remembered having to read it in grade school, and he never stopped loving it. He couldn’t say no to an offer like that. Next thing he knew, Katie was taking off her winter attire and popping the movie into the DVD player. She stalked off to the kitchen after that, and Lance didn’t know why until she came back with hot chocolate and popcorn. At this point, Lance’s smile was apparent as he took off his shoes and grabbed a blanket. They had a system when it came to their movie dates; Hunk would grab the blanket and wrap it around himself and Lance, as Lance lay across the couch, and Pidge would sit on Hunks lap, resting her head on Lance’s. Hunk wasn’t with them this time though. So Pidge climbed next to Lance and curled up a bit as Lance wrapped the blanket around themselves.

They snuggled together as they watched the movie. Lance had the story memorized and could recite almost every line if he wanted to. This story was always there with him. He stopped trying to figure out why he adored it in the first place. It was sentimental to him. Turns out that every time he watched the movie or read the book, he’d end up having a sentimental moment. But soon enough, well after their hot chocolate and popcorn was finished, he heard those words coming from the television and Katie’s mouth at the same time.

“The spell was broken. My uncle learned to laugh, and I learned to cry. The secret garden is always open now. Open, and awake, and alive. If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

“Thank you Pidge..” he whispered towards the girl. This made him feel a bit better. Perhaps he’d hold off on his departure until late tonight. It’s the least he could do, right?

”Give me eight days. Starting today.” Katie saying this out of the blue was strange. What in the hell was she talking about? He ended up staring at her with his confusion imminent. He wasn’t even gonna be around in eight days. Perhaps she was talking to herself? “Let me show you eight days full of reasons to stay alive. Starting two hours ago. And if you aren’t convinced by the end of the eighth day.. you can leave..”

Ah. He got it now. But this realization had him tense a bit. What could there possibly be that would convince him to stay alive? There was nothing, and he knew it. But.. just to humor her.. “...Okay. Eight days. Show me eight days..” Lance had agreed now. He was a man of his word. Hurting himself was now off limits until next Sunday. Which wasn’t so bad. He could manage. But for Pidge, this was now a challenge. She needed to make these next eight days count. Lances life depended on it.

”Thank you.. Your family is gonna be here at three, correct? That’s enough time for another movie. Should we watch another? Then we can get your family to have a game night with us?” Katie figured that today would be a relaxing family day for Lance. Family was reason number one for her. Hopefully tonight, Lance would see it too. With the nod of his head, Katie had changed the movie. This time, it was Maleficent. Not that Lance paid much attention to it though. His attention was looming up with his thoughts, which left his expression pretty vacant.

The Cuban boy hadn’t even known he fell asleep. At least he didn’t until he was woken up by Nadia, his niece. “Uncle Lance! Pidge said we were gonna play a game! You slept for a while. We wanna play monopoly now.”

Lance couldn’t help but to smile at the young girl. She was adorable, and frankly he didn’t see her as much as he used to. Lance preferred to stay in his (and his brothers) room. But with no door, the room wasn’t a private space at all. “Of course I’ll play.” He only agreed after he checked to make sure his mother didn’t need any help. She was on the floor, setting up the game as they spoke. But upon his agreement he was dragged into the floor, placed between his twin brother and Katie.

With the look that his friend had upon her face, he knew there wasn’t going to be a very good ending to this game. Leo had said something when Lance was sleeping, he could sense it. Something was off. Why the hell were his feelings always right?


End file.
